In you the orphan finds mercy.
– Hosea 14:3
I love this verse. This verse has a special place in my life and my family. Some people have heard me share the story of our family over the last few months when God had put on my heart and my wife Heather’s heart, through reading Psalm 127 and children being a blessing from the Lord, heritage. Blessed is the man and woman whose quiver is full of children.
God opened our hearts to begin a new adoption process, and that led months later to receiving word about a beautiful birth mom who was about to give birth to a baby girl. And when we heard about this birth mom, the first thing we heard is that she was going to give birth to this baby girl, but she already had a name picked out for her little girl. And Heather and I heard that, and we’re like, “Well, that’s a bummer” because for years we had said if we ever had another little girl, we would love to name her Mercy.
Hosea 14:3 Reminds Us of the Life of Mercy
It’s not the most common name, so we said, “Well, that’s obviously not a deal breaker. We want to find out more about this birth mom.” And so we did. And as soon as we got more information about this birth mom, we read down about all kinds of things about her and got to the end and read where she said, “I really want my baby girl to be named Mercy.” And from that point on, we knew God was up to something. And so, about a month later, Mercy was born and she was placed in our care when she was two days old, and months later she officially became our daughter. I’m so grateful in so many ways for this birth mom and her brave, bold, courageous decision to make sure that Mercy was cared for in the best way possible. Praise God for her birth dad whose image bearer of God, for many people who helped in many ways in this process.
And ultimately, I praise God, because in him we all find Mercy. That’s the picture in Hosea 14:3, and specifically here in you, the orphan finds mercy. I think about so many children around the world who are in need of a mom and dad. And I don’t know, maybe the Lord will use even this meditation on Hosea 14:3 and this prayer to open your heart to the possibility that God may lead you to foster, to adopt, to do something on behalf of literally millions of orphans and vulnerable children in the world, knowing that when we do, we are reflecting the father to the fatherless, the one in whom the orphan, and the one in whom all who are in need find mercy.
This Verse Leads Us to Praise the Lord for this Reality
God, we praise you for this reality. We praise you for this reality spiritually, that you adopt us as daughters and sons of yours. All glory be to your name, that I have the privilege, we have the privilege of calling you Father, of knowing you as Father, of being with you in a forever family of having and enjoying your inheritance for all of eternity.
We praise you as our Father and we pray that you would help us to be a reflection of your love and mercy in a world in particular where so many vulnerable children are in need. God, we want to reflect your mercy in every way, to every person around us. And God, we praise you for your mercy toward us, and we pray that you would help us to reflect your mercy in abundance in this world, a world filled with urgent need. Oh God, if it be your will to prompt someone to foster, to adopt, to care for children in need in a new way as a result of this, please do it. And please give grace for those you’re calling in that way to respond. I pray this in Jesus name, according to your word in Hosea 14:3, according to your mercy. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
